The critical reception of Aphrodite was mostly positive, although several critics pointed out that Allende's writing style has become quite light and overwhelmingly autobiographical. Some have described the book as a literary incarnation of the author herself: in a review for The San Francisco Chronicle, Patricia Holt writes that, like Allende, the work "has an eloquence and underlying ribaldry that lends an air of sensuality to every event of the day." Barbara Fisher emphasizes the book's "self-indulgent memoir" quality in a review for the Boston Globe, commenting that Aphrodite is "too much written by, for, and about the lusty and lovely Isabel Allende." Michele Roberts of the Times comments that the book is not "meant to be swallowed too seriously; these are tidbits for grazers; amuse-gueules in the French tradition" and adds that "in one sense this is a manual for women in the old style...